Pretzel Bites with Quick Cheddar Dip

Although Americans chow down on plenty of crisp pretzels, there's something irresistible about the soft variety that makes them just as addictive, if not more so, than the crunchy version. When formed into bite-size nuggets, not only do they pop easily into your mouth, but they are also small enough to eliminate the temptation to double-dip in the Cheddar sauce. You can also offer up a bowl of mustard, or divide your Cheddar dip into three bowls, flavoring one with mustard and the other with caraway seeds.
You may suspect that the large amount of baking soda to cook the pretzels is a typo; it's not. Believe us, it's the secret to the chestnut-brown color they develop during baking. Without it, the pretzels would look anemic.

Preparation

Stir together warm water and yeast in a large bowl and let stand until a creamy beige foam develops on the surface, about 10 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, start over with new yeast.)

Meanwhile, in a smaller bowl, stir together flour, salt, and light brown sugar.

Add flour mixture and butter to yeast mixture, and stir together first with a wooden spoon and then with your hands, until it forms a dough. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough until it is smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes, dusting with more flour as needed if dough sticks to work surface.

Transfer dough to a lightly oiled large bowl and turn over to coat with oil. Cover with a kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let rise in a draft-free place at room temperature until doubled, 2 to 3 hours.

Alternatively, after kneading, let dough rest at room temperature for 15 minutes, then transfer to oiled bowl as above, and let rise in the refrigerator overnight (12 hours or up to 2 days).

Punch down dough and divide into quarters. Form each quarter into 4 balls. Roll each ball into a 12-inch-long rope. Cut each rope into six (2-inch) pieces, and transfer to wax paper-lined rimmed baking sheets.

Bake Pretzels:

Heat oven to 450°F with racks in upper and lower third. Well oil 2 large baking sheets (about 17- by 12- inches).

In a 4- to 5-quart saucepan, bring water and baking soda to a boil (mixture will be foamy at first, but foam will dissipate). Add 12 pretzel bites and cook 30 seconds (they will rise to the surface almost immediately), then transfer with a slotted spoon to baking sheets. Quickly sprinkle pretzel bites lightly on both sides with pretzel salt before they dry (so salt sticks). Repeat with remaining pretzel bites, returning water to a boil between batches.

Purée cheese with 6 tablespoons wine or water in a food processor fitted with knife blade, stopping and scraping down sides with a spatula occasionally, until mixture is creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes. Thin to desired consistency with additional wine or water, adding it 1 tablespoon at a time. Serve immediately, or chill, covered, and return to room temperature before serving.

Cooks' Notes:

•You can buy pretzel salt in some specialty food stores or online.
•Pretzel bites are best the day they are made, but they can be made 1 day ahead and kept in a resealable plastic bag or frozen 1 month. Thaw, and rewarm, if desired, in a 350°F oven for about 5 minutes.
•Cheddar dip is delicious plain, but you can flavor it with your favorite prepared mustard (we used grainy Dijon). Start with 2 teaspoons, adding more to taste, as desired, and/or caraway seeds (2 to 3 teaspoons, or to taste), coarsely ground in an electric coffee/spice grinder. Caraway seeds will be even better if you lightly toast them first (before grinding) in a dry heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring, until fragrant and a shade darker, 2 to 3 minutes.

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Reviews

This was my first time making pretzels (and any yeasted product, really) and I found the directions easy to follow and the results were delicious- springy pretzels with a slightly crisp/chewy crust. Followed the pretzel recipe exactly, and topped with maldon flaky salt. Skipped on the cheese part due to poor reviews.

I made these last week. They are amazing. One note: I did the refrigerator rise method and the dough didn't rise at all. I was concerned so I went ahead and made another batch (with the non refrigerator rise method) and made them both at the same time. Both turned out awesome. I wanted to note that regardless of rise they both worked great. I would also suggest cutting the ropes of dough into smaller pieces as mine 'grew' in the boiling and baking. I also did not make the dip.

This is an excellent recipe. It's easy to follow and the final product is always a huge hit. Making pretzel bites is also easier and yields a higher quantity than if you make actual pretzels. I haven't ever made the cheese dip, but we always make the pretzels for an Oktoberfest party. If I made the cheese dip, I would sub beer for the wine.

I made a double batch yesterday for a 'Merica party I hosted, everyone ABSOLUTELY LOVED them. I should have quadrupled the batch because they went fast! They were so good. I made the dough two days in advance and kept it in the fridge. I made a beer cheese with this, and now I'm making them again for a trip my hubby has with his unit. He asked me to make a bunch extra for the other guys es going with haha. I highly recommend this recipe, and gave it to a couple of friends last night as well.

I only made the pretzels, and they turned out great. I will second the vote for parchment paper. No need to oil the pans, just drain the pretzels a bit out of the water and they're good to go on the parchment.

I've made this recipe several times now, and the spouse requests them on a regular basis. The cheese dip is so-so, but the pretzels are great. I make them exactly as the recipe, no extra boiling etc, or with modifications for instant-rise yeast, and they've been wonderful every time. I always parchment paper my baking sheets, and if you use really old baking soda, your pretzels end up less brown. Also, if you make large balls instead of bites, and bake for longer, you get awesome pretzel buns for burgers...

I didn't make the cheese dip so this review is just about the pretzels. I followed the recipe but I used a stand mixer to knead the dough. I also boiled them a little longer (1 minute). I found that a baking sheet with oil the pretzels still would stick and left them soggy after they cooled. So I put a pizza stone in the oven and pre-heated the oven with the stone. I placed the boiled bites on a piece of parchment paper and used a pizza peel to transfer the pretzels to the stone. The parchment paper solved both problems - no more sticking or sogginess. Great flavor!

Made this with a couple of modifications. I used a Lye solution (2T for this amount of water) and had to boil the bites for 60 seconds (30 seconds wasn't nearly enough time). I highly recommend using a seasoned pizza stone lightly oiled, instead of baking sheets. I didn't make the dip, but instead served them with beer-cheddar fondue. I'm not sure if anyone else made these ahead of time, but I did, and when cooled, I put them in a plastic container, which I will not do again... they got sticky :( I reheated them before serving, but they just weren't quite as good as right out of the oven.

they were great !! Made them last night and they were gone within an hour.
notes for next time:
- definitely oil the baking sheet well before baking
- I let my dough rise in the oven (heat to 170 let some warmth out and then put the bowl there)...because of that my dough went dry so next time - cover the bowl with moist towel not dry.
I did not make the cheese dip so that is for next time. Hubby said he wants them every day :)

Followed the tip to use store-bought pizza dough for a short cut. They came out great! I wasn't sure about the dip recipe, but we loved it! We used beer instead of white wine and it was perfect for a casual New Year's Eve party and I plan to make it for the Super Bowl, too.

These taste just like the pretzels that you get at Auntie Anne's. Easy to make and delicious. Make sure you watch the pretzels as they bake. They brown very quickly and if you don't watch them, they can burn.

Today was a rainy day and I had been wanting to make this recipe for a while. My son was my assistant and we had a blast making them. So good and easy. We will be using this pretzel recipe for pretzel dogs next.

I didn't expect these to be so good! We did half of them cinnamon sugar style instead of salt, and they were definitely the favorites. When I make them again, I'll probably do most with cinnamon sugar :)

"The best pretzel I ever had", says the husband. These were easy to make, and very good. Did have a slight sticking problem getting them off the baking sheets, but no big deal. Made the dip with extra-sharp cheddar and added some horseradish mustard for a kick. And you're supposed to cut the rope into six pieces, not 12, so no problems there.

Super Bowl will not be the same without these delicious bites of pretzel. Browned up nicely with the soda bath - not as dark as with a lye dip - but that's not food legal in the States.
Should have made a double batch - barely had any make it past first 10 minutes. Cheese sauce was nice - added some Tabasco and Worchestshire for a kick.
A Definite Hit with kids of all ages...

These were spectacular. I made a double batch for a party and they were gone in about an hour. I used bread flour and dark brown sugar (it's all I had) and I forgot to add the butter to the dough - not a problem, as they still turned out deliciously. I was not, however, able to cut each rope into 12 pieces. I did 8 instead. Make sure to oil that baking sheet well!